Unveiling of a monument to the notorious Chetnik commander Pavlo Đurišić the day before yesterday he also attended Vladimir Jankovic from Belgrade, member of the Zemun Clan, associate of the Military Security Agency of Serbia and the Security Information Agency, several sources from the security sector confirmed to "Vijesti".
That Janković attended the event can also be seen in the photographs taken by the photojournalist of "Vijesti". Boris Pejović, who was harassed on Saturday afternoon, after the removal of the monument, while his colleague Stevo Vasiljevic from "Pobjeda" physically attacked.
Janković, whose previous surname was Corac, mentioned in a Facebook post and Slavko Perosevic, one of the leaders of the protest - road blockade organized by the local opposition in Šavnik. Perošević boasted yesterday that after 84 years he had become "the first Chetnik duke to take the oath" in Montenegro.
"I took the oath before the metropolitan Method and the clergy, as well as before the Chetnik commanders Mile Pavićević Čiča, Stanko Maguda, Giga Božović, Slavko Labović i To the Ćorec...”, wrote Perošević, who was one of the participants in the pro-Serb protest in Nikšić on July 13, 2022, which resulted in violent incidents.
He also participated in a protest in late 2021, when members of the "Orthodox Brotherhood Stupovi" gathered in front of the Radio and Television of Montenegro building to broadcast a film about the genocide in Srebrenica - "Quo vadis Aida", carrying a banner that read "Srebrenica is not genocide".
The monument to the Chetnik commander was unveiled on Saturday by Metropolitan Methodius of Budimlje-Niksic, accompanied by the singing of the Serbian national anthem...
"Vijesti" yesterday sent questions to the Diocese of Budimlje-Niksic about the capacity in which the alleged member of the Zemun clan attended the liturgy and unveiling of the monument to Đurišić, and whether he came at the invitation of the church. By the time this issue was published, no response had been received.
The statue of Đurišić was erected on Friday, unveiled on Saturday, and removed the same day in the afternoon. The monument was removed by locals, according to what they claimed was a prior agreement with the police. According to unofficial information from Television Vijesti, Đurišić's statue was moved to the nearby Church of St. Mother Paraskeva in Gornji Zaostar.
The inspection, with the assistance of the police, demolished the pedestal late the night before last...
Berane police arrested a man on Thursday for erecting a monument Vujadin Dobrašinović and filed a criminal complaint against him for the criminal offense of injury and unauthorized erection of a memorial. The Police Directorate announced that Dobrašinović erected the monument on his own land. After questioning at the prosecutor's office, he was ordered to be detained for up to 72 hours.
Allegedly trained Wagner soldiers, wounded in Budva
Janković is originally from the Berane village of Dapsiće, and his previous surname was Ćorac, sources from the security sector told "Vijesti".
According to the same information, he was originally an associate of the Military Security Agency of Serbia, and then of the Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA).
He was wounded in Budva in 2007, in the garden of the “Jadranska straža” restaurant. At that time, a Ukrainian citizen was killed Adalbert Schutt i Vladimir Rakočević. They were sentenced to 17 years in prison each for double murder. Dragan Zindovic, Radojica Zeković, Rajko Knezevic i Aleksandar Zecevic.
Allegedly, Janković then came to Budva to collect the debt for the "Adriatic Guard" on behalf of Šuto, who was killed at the time...
Janković spoke at the funeral of a Serbian mobster in 2011 Bosko Radonjic, who in the 1980s was considered one of the bosses of the New York mafia, and who Nikola Kavaja attempted assassination of J.Broz Tito's rash in the USA and participated in bombings of the then Yugoslav consulates.
Vladimir Janković was allegedly also the Team Leader for the training of the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner in Angola.
On his Facebook page, he posted a large number of photos of Orthodox churches and monasteries he visited around the world and in Montenegro. There are also photos of him with the late Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral. Amphilochius, as well as his successor Ioannici, then with the parish priest of Tivat Mijajlo Backović, priest Jovan Plamenc at the church in Rumija, a poet Matija Bećković...
Another person arrested, Femic remanded in custody
The unveiling of the monument to Pavle Đurišić caused a stormy reaction in the public, especially after the attacks on the journalistic teams of "Vijesti" and "Pobjeda".
Berane police detained four people after the incident and arrested Danko Femic i Vlada Stijovića in whose possession two memory cards stolen from Vasiljević were found.
The police arrested yesterday and Vojislav Rmuša (48), and brought to the Misdemeanor Court in Berane with a misdemeanor charge. The court, as reported by TV Vijesti, rejected the request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings.
"We would like to note that police officers, within their jurisdiction, provided assistance to the local government and municipal services on Saturday during the removal of the monument's pedestal. The Police Directorate remains committed to protecting media freedom, the safety of journalists and maintaining public order and peace, with full respect for the legal framework and human rights," the police statement said.
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"Vijesti" learned that Femić was detained for up to 72 hours on suspicion of committing a criminal offense of endangering security, while Stijović was released.
"Vijesti" journalist Balša Rudović and photojournalist Boris Pejović said that on Friday in Gornji Zaostar, an “angry crowd of drunk people” mentally abused them for an hour and a half and threatened them with death, while the priests present watched and did not respond to their calls for help. They gave statements to the Berane Security Department on Friday evening.
“Pobjeda” photojournalist Stevo Vasiljević was physically harassed, and Pejović and Rudović were psychologically harassed, after they tried to record the removal of the statue of Chetnik duke Pavle Đurišić by those who had erected it the day before. The incident occurred in full view of two plainclothes police officers, who were calmly watching, the reporters claim.
A top police source claims that these officers were not nearby when the reporters were harassed.
A serious blow to media freedom
The attack on reporters from "Vijesti" and "Pobjeda" was condemned by the President of the Republic on Saturday. Jakov Milatovic, Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Becic, Minister of Culture and Media Tamara Vujović, Delegation of the European Union in Podgorica, Chargés d'Affaires of the German and British Embassies in Montenegro Ralph Reusch i Sarah Pilbeam, the Ombudsman, journalist associations, prominent journalists, several non-governmental organizations and most political parties (PES, DPS, GP URA, European Union, Preokret, Party of European Progress...).
Director General of Radio and Television of Montenegro Boris Raonic He said yesterday that the attack on journalists from "Vijesti" and "Pobjeda" is absolutely unacceptable and represents a serious blow to media freedom.
The Media Self-Regulation Council (MSS) called on the prosecution and police to thoroughly investigate the case, stating that the gross violation of human rights and freedoms, and subsequently media freedoms, that occurred in Gornji Zaostar, represents an attack on the individual, the media and free speech.
Yesterday, the Socialist People's Party (SNP) also condemned the attack on journalists, reminding that freedom of the media and the public's right to be truthfully, fully and timely informed is one of the basic principles of a democratic society.
"Attacks on journalists and photojournalists are not just attacks on individuals, but a direct attack on the right of citizens to know the truth. Free speech is the path to democracy and the foundation of every free society," said the SNP.
The New Serbian Democracy and the Democratic People's Party have not commented on the matter.
The attack on the journalists was preceded by inflammatory rhetoric at the liturgy held by Metodije, on the eve of the unveiling of the monument. He said that they should not be afraid of the state, or “their power, which cannot even bring order to the streets”, or of young people in expensive suits “who have occupied high political and state positions and think they can do as they please and think”.
Metodije said that he would place the monument in the church, "so let them come and demolish the church," adding that, "if the people wake up," a statue of Đurišić would also be in the center of Berane.
"The most important thing is that we be like him (Đurišić), that we be faithful to our race, that we know who we are - that we are Serbs, that we are Orthodox. Because many today, who slaughtered us the most in those years, come from our roots. They are ready to wait, like sycophants, for any empire to pass through these regions, in order to put themselves at its service...", he stated.
"Vijesti" asked the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje whether they had initiated proceedings ex officio or upon a possible report to determine whether the statements of the participants in the rally in Gornji Zaostar, primarily Metropolitan Metodije, contained elements of a criminal offense - incitement of national, racial and religious hatred.
According to the Criminal Code (Article 370), anyone who publicly incites violence or hatred against a group or member of a group determined on the basis of race, skin color, religion, origin, language, national or ethnic affiliation, shall be punished by imprisonment for six months to five years.
Đurišić was the supreme Chetnik leader in 1941. Dragoljub Draza Mihailovic appointed one of the commanders of the Chetnik forces in Montenegro. In the following months, according to numerous historical sources, Đurišić's intensive collaboration with the Italian and then German occupiers began, during which his Chetniks repeatedly carried out massacres of the civilian population.
In Gornji Zaostr, a pedestal for a monument to Đurišić was erected in 2002, and a memorial complex was erected in 2013. However, they were soon demolished.
The so-called Voivodeship Council of the United Ravna Gora Movement launched an initiative in 2017 to erect monuments to Đurišić in Berane and Zaostar, and in 2019 the current Deputy Prime Minister and then MP Budimir Aleksic (New Serbian Democracy) called Dragoslav Šćekić (Socialist People's Party), at that time the leader of Berane, to erect a monument to the Chetnik duke.
CDT: The list of controversial monuments is long
The Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) welcomed the decision of the Ministry of Culture and Media to begin removing illegally erected memorials, saying they expect them to act consistently and indiscriminately.
The list of controversial monuments is, as they say, long - from illegally erected monuments in Podgorica, such as the monument to Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Bearer, Nikola Tesla and the memorial to the Edict of Milan, to unauthorized alterations on the Battlefield (Mojkovac) and Doli (Plužine), revisionist monuments in Tuzi and Plav, to monuments categorized as "auxiliary facilities" in order to circumvent procedures.
Minister of Culture and Media Tamara Vujović announced on Saturday that, regarding the monument to Jusuf Čelić (Isuf Kamer Čelaj) in Gusinje, she will order cultural heritage inspectors to go to the field, establish the facts and order the executive authorities to remove it. Čelić was the commander of a company of volunteers, a militia made up of Albanians who lived in the area of Plav, Gusinje and Albania, and which, according to historians, is responsible for crimes against the Orthodox population. This paramilitary force was formed by fascist Italy.
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